As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.

The recipes in this book all appeared in issues of Everyday Food magazine. I still miss that magazine and kept all of my old issues! This is my kind of cooking: using seasonal ingredients to make delicious meals without a lot of fuss. We have made many recipes from this cookbook, but for the purposes of my challenge, I turned to the "Summer" section (recipes are categorized according to season) and chose one I had not yet tried.

The barbecue sauce was easy to make, using ingredients that I already had in my kitchen. (I did have to buy some Texas Pete, but I'll bet many of you have that handy already.) And it is yummy! I'll be keeping it on hand for more summer grilling!

BARBECUED CHICKEN

Ingredients:1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup ketchup

1 cut-up chicken (3 pounds)*

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for grates

coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1) Heat a grill to medium. Simmer the hot sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, garlic, and ketchup in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, 5 to 7 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, toss the chicken with the vegetable oil; season well with salt and pepper.

3) Lightly oil the grates; place the chicken on grill. Cover the grill; cook, turning frequently until the chicken registers 165 F on an instant-read thermometer, 10 to 12 minutes. Uncover the grill; continue cooking, basting frequently with the sauce, until the chicken is glazed thoroughly, 3 to 4 minutes more. Serve with remaining sauce.

* I could not find a whole chicken cut into parts (nor did I want to do the butchering), so I used some bone-in breasts and legs.

We're finding some new favorites this summer as I "Pick Up That Cookbook!" Have you picked up one of your cookbooks yet?

Okay, this is just making me very hungry indeed. I have a grill, seldom used, but I may need to get a tank of gas... Love BBQ chicken! And I only eat it at home where I can make as big a mess as I want!

My mouth is watering just looking at this lovely BBQ chicken! You are so smart to "spice up" your meals with this challenge, Cheryl. Now, if only I would do the same it might get a little more interesting around here at mealtime. Great Food Fast sounds like a winner to me. ♥

I don't like doing the butchering either! It's too difficult a job for my bad knives, and I don't want to risk damaging my good knives, so ... I would just do chicken breasts and thighs. Looks delicious!

I've just been thinking about doing this very thing! Trying out new recipes from my cookbook collection, that is. I haven't tried anything new in a while, so it's time I did. The chicken is making my mouth water...it looks delicious!

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About Me

...homemaker, homeschooler, homebody who is on her way to her Heavenly home. I am wife to Ron; Mom to Kristin, Ryan, Kati, and Bekah (16); mother-in-law to Brian and Sarah; Gran to Gavin, Maddie, Owen, Eve, Benjamin, Nora, Alaine, Peter, Paul, and Macie (ages 15 to 2).